The Texas health department reported 541 cases of measles in the state on Friday, an increase of 36 cases from its previous count on April 8, as the United States battles an outbreak of the childhood disease that continues to cross state borders.
Cases in Gaines County, the centre of the outbreak, rose to 355 from the 328 reported on Tuesday, the Texas Department of State Health Services said.
Two unvaccinated children with no underlying health conditions have died of measles in Texas, including an 8-year-old girl last week.
Since becoming the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — who has a long history of advocating against vaccines — has backed vaccination as the best way to prevent measles from spreading.
Nebraska's Republican Governor Jim Pillen on Friday urged caution against the worsening outbreak and advised parents to get their children vaccinated. Kansas, which is next to Nebraska, reported 32 measles cases as of Wednesday.
"We're talking about it (measles) today, because since the pandemic, there's been a decrease in the number of kids being vaccinated for measles," Pillen said at a press conference.
"It has migrated into New Mexico, it's migrated into Oklahoma and now Kansas ... It's not if but when it's going to come to Nebraska," Pillen said.
New Mexico reported two additional cases since its last update on Tuesday, taking the total number of infections in the state to 58.
The national vaccination rate has slipped below the 95% considered necessary to achieve so-called herd immunity, which protects those who cannot be vaccinated. The vaccination rate in Texas' Gaines County is about 82%.
The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Friday a total of 712 cases of measles across 25 states in the country this year, as of April 10, an increase of 105 cases from its previous count.
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